NBC NEWS – A Michigan resident who received a transplant in December died after having been infected with rabies from the new organ, the state health department said Wednesday.
“A public health investigation determined they contracted rabies through the transplanted organ,” Lynn Sutfin, a spokesperson for the state’s Department of Health and Human Services, said in a statement.
A spokesperson for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the same donor also provided corneal grafts for three patients in different states:
“Based on the concerning symptoms of the kidney recipient who died, CDC worked with Missouri health officials to intercept a fourth corneal graft before it could be implanted into a Missouri resident — even before rabies was confirmed in the donor.
“All corneal tissue recipients have gotten post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) shots to prevent rabies and are currently healthy.”
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The Michigan patient died in January, after receiving a kidney transplant at a hospital in Ohio, the CDC said.
The donor did not show traditional rabies symptoms, according to the agency, so the infection was not detected until the recipient’s illness was discovered.
After that, “public health officials learned the organ donor was exposed to a wild animal in Idaho five weeks before death” — likely a skunk, the CDC said.
The agency said it has notified close contacts of both the donor and the kidney recipient and that “those with potential risk for getting rabies have been advised to start rabies PEP.”
Sutfin said the Michigan and Ohio health departments “worked closely” together and with the CDC to investigate the death. The CDC’s rabies laboratory confirmed the diagnosis …
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